Product Description:

André Previn's 1975 EMI recording of Carmina Burana sounds better than ever in this new transfer. The analog tape hiss has been tamed, yet there's more "air" between the notes and a greater sense of dynamic and timbral definition. Engineering-wise, the mid-70s were golden years for EMI, and the rhythmic verve, dramatic momentum, and unbuttoned joy that Previn and his brilliant forces project still pack a sonic wallop. The soloists especially are outstanding. Thomas Allen navigates Orff's cruelly high tessitura with no effort, and Sheila Armstrong wraps her warm, flexible pipes around "In trutina mentis dubia" to moving effect. Gerald English gives just the right character to the roasted swan's lament, without overly exaggerating. In short, this performance surpasses Previn's live Vienna Philharmonic remake for DG, and ranks with Shaw (Telarc), Dorati (Decca), Blomstedt (Decca), Ormandy (Sony), Muti (EMI), and Mata (RCA) among the best recordings on disc of Carl Orff's pre-minimalist masterpiece. --Jed Distler